THE CIVIL WAR WAS OVER. HIS BATTLE HAS JUST BEGUN. After Appomattox, wounded Rebel cavalry officer and physician Benjamin "Doc" Kelley abandons the family plantation in Georgia and flees west, determined to outrun the horrifying nightmares of the Civil War and to heal the heartbreak of a Southern belle's suspicion that he has become a coward and the resulting dissolution of their engagement. Invigorated by a passionate commitment to saving lives with his medical knowledge, galvanized in his desire to leave killing and death behind, Ben stows a promise made to his dying father into a train of freight wagons and embarks on a bold quest for renewal and peace. Optimism for a prosperous future is soon overwhelmed by the perils of survival as he and his team are confronted with new deadly battles to wage and personal struggles to face on the unforgiving prairies of the Great Plains that will severely test his resolute pledge to never again kill another human. No longer is the fight about flag or country. Now it's strictly about life - his own and those of loved ones. Can he remain steadfast in his conviction? Or, will his instinct to live and to protect prevail? He has mere seconds to decide.